If you’re someone who cannot get enough beauty products, Seoul is the city for you. If you’re like me, and requested your secret santa get you the latest Chanel nail polish (sorry to my cousin, Justin) or ended more than one sleepover not with girl talk but with your friend(s) falling asleep while you finished your nightly skincare regimen (sorry, Mal), then you need to make a K-Beauty wish list, stat. Hell, you probably already have one.

Once I heard we may go to Seoul, I started making mine. Living in Asia has changed how I take care of my skin in more ways than one. Double cleansing? Love it. Embrace your pale? Sure. And there are certain K-Beauty products I’ve been waiting to try that can be hard to find here in Japan — maybe you can’t import them or maybe they’re at a hidden beauty superstore I’ve yet to discover — I wanted them straight from the source.

With our anniversary just days away, Craig sealed his Husband of the Year award helping me track down some of these products, many of which have become popular in the states as of late. Will my skincare routine expand to 11 steps like women in Korea adhere to? I wish I could say I wasn’t almost there anyway.

But these are the products I worked some magic to fit into my tiny suitcase and I can’t wait to try. I’d read about them on various sites and blogs and I’ll be sure to post a follow up once I try them all. Happy shopping, fellow beauty addicts!

AmorePacific Treatment Toner — The second of my big-ticket items (not sorry), this one contains another popular ingredient — red ginseng — to calm and tone.

MISSHA Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence — This guy’s supposed to be a dead ringer for a certain very pricey Japanese essence. So far, I’ve been using it in the morning and it does seem to give me a little glow. The significantly lower price sold it for me.

I’m so excited for the next two months. We’ve got some great friends coming to Japan in August and in September, I make my way back to the states, kicking off my trip in my favorite city on the planet. Look out, NYC, Petra’s comin’ back. It’s also almost our three-year wedding anniversary and Craig’s birthday is coming up. Whew. It’ll be an action-packed summer for sure.

I haven’t shared my web reads in a few weeks. Here’s a new batch for ya:

Five important etiquette rules for Japan. I’m lousy at No. 5. [Savvy Tokyo]

May has been quite a month. After being sick last week, I started a new work project. Needless to say, it’s been hectic. Thankfully, this weekend Craig and I are headed to Kusatsu Onsen for some exploration, sightseeing and — hopefully — a bit of sleep. I’ll be sharing snaps from our mini trip soon so check back.

Come on, weekend! This has been an exhausting one, but full of very interesting activities.We have friends in town next week, so I’m in full-on apartment decorating mode. We can’t wait to have our first guests!

I hope your week is going smoothly. Here are my latest web tacks:

Something to make you smile: It’s a hard life for a mascot in Japan. [Kotaku]

I wouldn’t classify this weekend as terribly exciting, but it was incredibly productive. We finished up more moving business (I cannot believe we’re still not done) and did some major damage to my to-do list. Every once in a while, you need a weekend like that, but we’re hoping this coming one will see us getting back to exploring Tokyo.

This past week, to cap off February, I also contributed to my next charity, the Human Rights Campaign, somewhere I’ve wanted to make a donation to for some time. Spread love <3

It’s no secret Japan is known for its gadgets. When it comes to the beauty industry, there are no shortage of devices and machines to help you look your best. Most of them, frankly, scare me (see the Facial Fitness Pao), but there was one I had my eye on that seemed like a more practical choice: the Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer EH-CNA97. While the ads on the metro taunted me every time I went home to my cheapo model that took an obscene amount of time to turn me into an extra from Hair, the price tag, however, always kept me from pulling the trigger. Then Christmas came and I have a very observant husband.

The first time I used the hair dryer, I was a bit concerned — my hair felt a bit greasy at the roots after. What I found, after speaking with my hair stylist back in the states, is this type of dryer is meant to help you use less product, since the ions help put moisture back into the hair. It took me a couple of tries to get the ratio right, but now I’m pretty glad I can use less of the products I can only get back in the U.S.

The main nozzle releases hot hair (unless switched to cold) while the small vent above it releases cold hair. This combo helps to “seal” the hair for less frizz and I found it also helps keep me cooler while styling — a feature that will be truly tested this summer. I really appreciate the multiple temperature settings as well, which include “scalp” and “skin” as well as a hot/cold alternating setting. The compact size and foldable handle also make it perfect for storage in a drawer to keep my small bathroom looking less cluttered.

Overall, the dryer helps me finish my hair in half the time and with considerably less frizz. Since I have wavy-in-parts-and-curly-in-parts hair (thanks, aging) and am not ambidextrous enough for a proper at-home blowout, I haven’t been able to escape the flat iron touch-up yet, but I couldn’t be happier with the Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer EH-CNA97. Consider making it your beauty splurge for the year — or keep incessantly whining to your partner about your shitty hair dryer dropping your partner subtle hints.

Feeling good today after finally sleeping through the night. I wish jet lag was something you recovered from more quickly over time, but oh well. Settling into a new work routine this week as well as preparing for our upcoming move. I’ll be sharing a bit tomorrow about what looking for an apartment in Tokyo is like, so check back!

It’s Thanksgiving week! We were kindly invited to partake in one Friendsgiving celebration this weekend and are looking forward to another one on Thursday. While it’s tough to be away from family on days like Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful for here and our friends certainly top that list.

My web finds for the week kick off with the mashed potato recipe I tried out on Saturday to great success. I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

These mashed potatoes aren’t exactly healthy. And that’s exactly how it should be. [The Pioneer Woman]

This week has seriously flown by with some major work projects to wrap up. I’m already looking forward to next week when we’ll be heading to Hong Kong! I’ve wanted to go there for a while and can’t wait to spend almost a week working and exploring. Stay tuned.

Enjoy my web finds for the week and have a great Friday!

Any fans of The Hills out there? Find out what your favorite villains are up to. [Complex]

When it comes to evening my complexion, I’ve been on team tinted moisturizer for about six years now. I gave up liquid foundation fours years before that, opting for powdered mineral products instead. Liquid foundation always made me break out or gave me cake face.

So when I first heard Koh Gen Do’s Maifanshi Moisture Foundation could supposedly do what few tinted moisturizers actually can — cover dark spots, blemishes and redness — I was skeptical. I also saw it on U.S. websites first, fetching up to $62 a tube. But I kept hearing about it, and sooner or later it was time for me to pick up a new shade to accommodate my long-awaited summer tan. If I could knock out two steps in one to avoid a melting grease face in the summer heat, why not.

After sweating over which shade would match my skin — unfortunately, there are only nine — I took the plunge and gave Maifanshi Moisture Foundation a try. This formulas goes on like a tinted moisturizer and feels like one. It was thicker than I thought, so it took some work to blend. Once it was on, it took a few minutes to really settle in. Once it did, I was left with a smoother, more even complexion that only needed a bit of concealer to finish off. I love how natural my skin looked — the exact feeling and appearance I love about using a tinted moisturizer with more of the coverage I wanted.

My skin did get oily rather quickly with Maifanshi Moisture Foundation, which was the only downside. I combatted this by applying a thin layer of Laura Mercier’s Foundation Primer beforehand. In the end, it didn’t really save me a step, but it did stay put and I didn’t wake up with any blemishes the next day.

Maifanshi Moisture Foundation is by far the most expensive foundation I’ve purchased. Since it required a primer to keep my skin shine-free, I can’t say it was totally worth the cost, especially considering how small the tube is. But since I pretty much only wear makeup on the weekend, I can see myself stretching it.